Golden Globes: Is The Social Network Invincible? The Film Continues Its Phenomenal Awards Season Sweep

Ricky Gervais and Robert Downey Jr. brought the funny, but last night’s glitzy ceremony for the 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton unreservedly belonged to this year’s awards season juggernaut The Social Network. With four wins out of six nominations (including Best Drama, Best Director, and Best Screenplay), David Fincher’s acclaimed Facebook drama continued its phenomenal sweep of the season. The film also picked up a trophy for its haunting Original Score.

David O. Russell’s absorbing tale of boxing and family dysfunction The Fighter won both supporting races, making Melissa Leo and Christian Bale definite Academy Award frontrunners. And speaking of favourites, after picking up Critics’ Choice awards last Friday, Colin Firth (The King’s Speech) and Natalie Portman (Black Swan) both repeated at the Globes. These two are unbeatable this year.

Meanwhile, after failing to earn a Best Picture nomination from the broadcast critics, The Kids Are All Right picked up two major Globes, for Best Comedy and Best Actress in a Comedy (Annette Bening). I’ve been rooting for this little movie since all of last year. Look for it to score a few Oscar nominations and pick up multiple trophies at next month’s Spirit Awards. It’s worth noting that Kids is largely due to the magnificent performance of Bening, with solid support from Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo.

But back to last night’s Globe awards. The night’s biggest shocker: Lovable actor Paul Giamatti was the surprise Best Actor in a Comedy winner for the little-seen Canadian indie Barney’s Version, topping A-list nominees Johnny Depp (The Tourist and Alice in Wonderland), Jake Gyllenhaal (Love and Other Drugs), and Kevin Spacey (Casino Jack). Among noteworthy winners for their work in Television were Steve Buscemi and is HBO epic Boardwalk Empire; Chris Colfer and the cast of Glee; Claire Danes and Al Pacino. Robert DeNiro was presented with the Cecil B. DeMille Award in a tribute led by Matt Damon.

Up next: the Screen Actors Guild Awards on January 30. But before that, last year’s Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner Mo’Nique (Precious) will join AMPAS president Tom Sherak in announcing this year’s Academy Awards nominations on Tuesday, January 25 at 5:30 am.